Should the Pistons take a chance on John Wall?

After suffering a disappointing 2018-19 NBA season, rumors started to circulate around the Washington Wizards involving their explosive backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Since the NBA offseason started, the Wizards made it clear to everyone in the league that they have no intention of trading Beal, which is proven by their decision to offer him a massive three-year, $111 million contract extension. However, Wall’s case might be different.

John Wall, who is set to earn $171.1 million over the next four years, is expected to spend the entire 2019-20 NBA season recovering from an Achilles injury. As of now, most people see Wall as a salary cap burden than a player who could help the Wizards end their decades long title drought. In his recent article, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report mentioned possible ways regarding how teams could trade the NBA’s worst contracts.

For the Wizards, Swartz believes it would be a “win” if they can unload John Wall’s lucrative contract without including Bradley Beal in the trade package. One of the potential trade partners for the Wizards is the Detroit Pistons. In the proposed trade deal by Bleacher Report, the Wizards would be sending Wall and a 2020 first-round pick to the Pistons in exchange for Reggie Jackson, Langston Galloway, and Tony Snell. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.

I caught up with @JohnWall, who's rehabbing in Miami and trying out a keto diet (though he admits he's a notoriously picky eater). His close friend DeMarcus Cousins is giving keto a shot toohttps://t.co/6kSizKXS8b

If the trade becomes a reality, it would benefit both the Wizards and the Pistons. The deal would enable the Wizards to get rid of John Wall’s massive contract and focus on building a title-contending team around Bradley Beal. Reggie Jackson and Langston Galloway are both entering the final year of their contracts, while Tony Snell is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2021.

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Trading for John Wall is undeniably a very risky move for the Pistons, but Swartz thinks that it’s their “best chance” of adding an elite talent on their roster

“Detroit makes sense as a suitor since it is not projected to have much cap space next summer to provide help around Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond and has had trouble attracting star free agents to begin with. Perhaps the only way to make a significant jump in the East is to take a gamble on a player like Wall to regain his All-Star form.”

John Wall may not be playing in the 2019-20 NBA season, but once he fully recovers and regains his All-Star form, he, Blake Griffin, and Andre Drummond have a great chance of turning the Pistons into a legitimate title contender in the Eastern Conference.